Game piece dispensing toy



May 21, 1968 A. E. GOLDFARB GAME PIECE DISPENSING TOY 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Nov. 24, 1964 May 21, 1968 Filed Nov. 24, 1964 GAME PIECE DISPENSING TOY GOLDFARB 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 United States Patent 3,383,792 GAME PIECE DISPENSING TOY Adolph T. Goldfarb, 7427 Varna St., North Hollywood, Calif. 90028 Filed Nov. 24, 1964, Ser. No. 413,575 4 Claims. (Cl. 46-124) The present invention relates to a new and useful animated toy and a game and more particularly to an animated toy which dispenses game pieces to be used in playing a lotto-type game of the present invention.

Lotto-type games are old and well known. However, conventional lotto-type games are sometimes unattractive to children, especially of the pre-school age, because there is a lack of color and excitement when the game is played with conventional game pieces employing conventional methods.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a new and useful dispensing device for dispensing game pieces employed in playing lotto.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide an animated toy for dispensing colored game pieces which may be used in playing a lotto game of the present invention.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a new and useful animated toy in the form of a simulated chicken which may be filled with colored eggs to be dispensed thereby upon actuation of the chickens tail thereby presenting the colored eggs to players of the game in random fashion to be placed upon colored squares on a lotto card of the present invention,

According to the present invention, an animated toy hen or chicken is provided with a hopper which may be filled with colored marbles or eggs. A dispenser having an aperture provided therein is slidably mounted on top of a horizontal partition in the hopper in such a manner that actuation of the dispenser will dispense a single egg from the hopper. As eggs are dispensed from the hopper, they roll out an opening in a simulated nest where they are accessible to the players of the game.

The dispenser is connected to the tail of the toy chicken in such a manner that the dispenser may be actuated by moving the chickens tail causing the chicken to lay a colored egg which the child, whose turn it is, may place on a lotto card on a square having a corresponding color.

The object of the game is to be the first to either align five eggs of one color in a horizontal row or to align five eggs having five different colors in a vertical or a diagonal row. Thus, unlike regular lotto, it would make a difference in which square of a horizontal row of a predetermined color a child placed an egg if he was working on a vertical or diagonal row of mixed colors.

The features of the present invention which are believed to be novel are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. The present invention, both as to its organization and manner of operation, together With further objects and advantages thereof, may best be understood by reference to the following description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which like reference characters refer to like elements in the several views.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is an exploded perspective view of an animated toy of the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is a plan view of a lotto card to be used in playing the game of the present invention;

FIGURE 3 is a front elevational view, on an enlarged scale, of the animated toy of FIGURE 1 with parts broken away to show internal construction;

FIGURE 4 is a vertical, cross-sectional view taken along line 4-4 of FIGURE 3; and

3,383,792 Patented May 21, 1968 "ice FIGURE 5 is a partial, cross-sectional view similar to FIGURE 4 showing the relative location of certain internal parts thereof during one step in the actuation of the toy.

Referring again to the drawings, an animated toy constituting a presently preferred embodiment of the invention, generally designated 10, includes a simulated hen or chicken 12 which is shown in position on a simulated nest 14.

The hen 12 and nest 14 may be conveniently formed from integral housing halves 16 and 18 in each of which hopper housing halves 20 and 22 may be mounted by pins 24 and 26, respectively. When the housing halves 16-18 and 2022 are secured together, an egg hopper 28 is formed inside the assembly 10 comprising the hen 12 and the nest 14. Suitable game pieces, such as the egg 30 shown in FIGURE 1 or the marbles 30a shown in FIG- URES 4 and 5, may be stored in the hopper 28 by inserting them through a suitable opening 32 provided in the hen 12. The game pieces 30 or 30a are preferably stored in the hopper in a plurality of random colors corresponding to the colors employed for the squares of a lotto card 34 as shown in FIGURE 2.

The hopper 28 includes a storage bin 36 having sloping sidewalls 38 which direct the eggs 30 into an opening 40 provided at the lower end of the bin 36.

The hopper 28 also includes an egg discharge chute 42 formed by spaced-apart upstanding sidewalls 44 and a guide strip or member 46 having a sloping runway 48 which communicates with an opening 50 rovided in the front wall 52 of the nest 14. A horizontal partition 54 is mounted in the hopper 28 between the opening 40 and the runway 20 to control the discharge of eggs from the hopper 28. The partition 54 includes an end 56 which is spaced from the strip 46 sufficiently to provide an opening 58 through which the eggs 30 can pass from the hopper or bin 36. The discharge of eggs 30 through the opening 58 is controlled by a dispenser means 60' having a top wall 62 and depending, spaced apart parallel sidewalls 64. An opening 66 is provided in the top wall 62 and is adapted to register with the opening 58 when the dispenser 60 is slid to a predetermined position in the hopper 28. A first baffle plate 68 is mounted on the wall 62 on one side of the opening 66 and a second bafile plate 70 is mounted on the other side thereof. The second baffie plate includes an elongated aperture 72 adapted to receive a pin 74 which connects the housing halves 76 and 78 of the hens tail 80 together. The tail assembly 80 is -pivot ally connected to the hopper 28 by pins 82 which are received in associated apertures 84 provided on the hopper 28.

The dispenser 60 is biased toward the front wall 52 of the nest 14 by a spring 86 having one end 88 conneeted to a pin 90 which is mounted on the dispenser 60 and its other end 92 connected to a pin 94 which is affixed to the nest 14. The spring 86 normally m intains the dispenser 60 in the position shown in FIGURE 4 wherein the opening 66 is positioned over the partition 54 so that the eggs 30 or 30a, as the case may be, will normally be prevented from discharging through the opening 58 onto the runway 48. However, when the hens tail 80 is pivoted about the pin 82 in a counterclockwise direct-ion, as viewed in FIGURE 4, the pin 74 sliding in the elongated aperture 72 draws the dispenser 60 in the direction of arrow 96 (FIGURE 4) moving the opening 66 into alignment with the opening 58, as shown in FIGURE 5. This causes a single egg 30a to drop onto the runway 48 and be dispensed through the opening 50. When the tail 80 is released, the spring 86 draws the dispenser 60 toward the front wall 52 thereby closing the opening 58. This positions the opening 66 in alignment with the opening 40 provided in the pin 36 so that another egg will take its position within the opening 66. The bafiles 68 and 70 serve as agitators to mix the marble 30a within the bin 36 and to assure that a marble will always be dropped into the opening 66 when the dis penser 60 returns to the position shown in FIGURE 4.

All of the elements shown in FIGURE 1 may be conveniently molded from a suit-able plastic and then assembled together.

An example of a game which may be played with a device of the present invention may be described as follows:

Each participant in the game is provided with a card 34 having horizontal rows of red squares 100, blue squares 102, yellow squares 104, green squares 106 and brown squares 108. If desired, the center square 110 on the ear-d 34 may be left blank. The hopper 28 and the interior cavity 112 in the device 10 may be filled with a plurality of eggs 30 in assorted red, blue, yellow, green and brown colors.

Each player of the game then takes a turn actuating the tail 80 as the hen 12 is passed from player to player. Actuation of the tail 80 causes a marble or egg 30 to be dispensed through the opening 50 provided in nest 14. The player whose turn it is gathers the dispensed egg from the opening 50 and places it on the card 34 at a square corresponding to the color of the egg dispensed.

The object of the game is to determine which player is the first to either fill a horizontal row of one color with five eggs, to fill a vertical row of multicolored eggs or to fill a diagonal row of multicolored eggs. Of course, only a single egg may be dispensed by a particular player during a single turn at play.

While the particular animated toy and game herein shown and described in detail are fully capable of obtaining the objects and providing the advantages hereinbeforc stated, it is to be understood that they are merely illustrative of the presently preferred embodiments of the invention and that no limitations are intended to the details of construction, design or method steps herein shown other than .as defined in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. An animated toy comprising a simulated figure fixedly supported on a nest-simulating base member and having an interior cavity; a hopper in said cavity and having a discharge opening in the bottom thereof; a generally horizontal fixed partition below said opening and having a boundary edge spaced laterally from the center of said opening a distance at least as far therefrom as an edge of said opening; a slide member slidably supported on said partition and having a generally vertical passageway therethrough, said slide member being slidable from a first position wherein said passageway is aligned with said opening to a second position wherein said passageway is outwardly of said boundary edge; a portion of said simulated figure being movably mounted thereon; means drivingly connecting said portion to said slide member whereby a predetermined movement of said portion slides said slide member from said first to said second position; and means for movement of said slide member to said first position.

2. A toy as defined in claim 1 wherein said nest simulating base member is hollow, said boundary edge overlying said base member; chute means in said hollow base member and having one end positioned below said boundary edge; and a discharge opening through a side of said base member, the other end of said chute means extending to said discharge opening.

3. A toy as defined in claim 1 wherein said simulated figure is provided with a further opening through the top thereof, over said hopper whereby game pieces may be dropped into said hopper.

4. A toy as defined in claim 1 wherein said movably mounted portion of said figure simulates a tail and is pivotally mounted thereon; said drivingly connecting means comprising a pin-and-slot connection between said tail simulating portion and said slide member.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 991,804 5/1911 Schmidt 46124 X 1,152,447 9/1915 Sproull 124-50 X 1,562,197 1 1/1925 Andrew 273144 1,569,637 1/1926 Snyder 46-l24 X FOREIGN PATENTS 496,224 6/ 1950 Belgium.

Ad. 7,658 1894 Great Britain.

RICHARD C. PINKHAM, Primary Examiner. ANTON O. OECHSLE, Examiner. T. ZACK, L. J. BOVASSO, Assistant Examiners. 

1. AN ANIMATED TOY COMPRISING A SIMULATED FIGURE FIXEDLY SUPPORTED ON A NEST-SIMULATING BASE MEMBER AND HAVING AN INTERIOR CAVITY; A HOPPER IN SAID CAVITY AND HAVING A DISCHARGE OPENING IN THE BOTTOM THEREOF; A GENERALLY HORIZONTAL FIXED PARTITION BELOW SAID OPENING AND HAVING A BOUNDARY EDGE SPACED LATERALLY FROM THE CENTER OF SAID OPENING A DISTANCE AT LEAST AS FAR THEREFROM AS AN EDGE OF SAID OPENING; A SLIDE MEMBER SLIDABLY SUPPORTED ON SAID PARTITION AND HAVING A GENERALLY VERTICAL PASSAGEWAY THERETHROUGH, SAID SLIDE MEMBER BEING SLIDABLE FROM A FIRST POSITION WHEREIN SAID PASSAGEWAY IS ALIGNED WITH SAID OPENING TO A SECOND POSITION WHEREIN SAID PASSAGEWAY IS OUTWARDLY OF SAID BOUNDARY EDGE; A PORTION OF SAID SIMULATED FIGURE BEING MOVABLY MOUNTED THEREON; MEANS DRIVINGLY CONNECTING SAID PORTION TO SAID SLIDE MEMBER WHEREBY A PREDETERMINED MOVEMENT OF SAID PORTION SLIDES SAID SLIDE MEMBER FROM SAID FIRST TO SAID SECOND POSITION; AND MEANS FOR MOVEMENT OF SAID SLIDE MEMBER TO SAID FIRST POSITION. 